5 Internet of Everything Companies

In a recent article titled “The Physical Web vs. iBeacons vs. Eddystone vs. IoT” we demystified some of the terminology used to describe the “Internet of Things” (IoT) which looks to connect everything around us. In other articles, we looked at Internet of Things companies like Propeller Health which helps track inhaler usage, Proteus Digital Health which is introducing “digitally enabled medicine” using tiny wireless sensors, Alarm.com which enables a “fully connected home or business”, and Estimote which is developing a beacon platform. While you’re all familiar with the term IoT, we’re going to introduce a new term now which is the “Internet of Everything”. This is what it looks like according to Cisco:

So while the “Internet of Things” is focused on enabling everything around us with connectivity, the “Internet of Everything” also includes the people element (use cases), the data element (data collection, storage, and analysis), and the process element (a platform that brings everything together). A simpler way to look at it this. If you’re selling an Internet of Everything solution to a particular industry, you’re a one-stop-shop for your clients. You provide the devices they need along with software in the cloud for them to immediately begin analyzing the data that your platform collects. Let’s take a look at 5 companies that are offering an “Internet of Everything” solution in 5 different industries.

Industry – ManufacturingFounded in 2012, Sight Machine has taken in $18.5 million by investors that include GE to develop an Internet of Everything platform for manufacturing as seen below:

Sight Machine can easily take data from the sources you have on the factory floor, including sensors, PLCs, cameras, robots, ERP/MES, bar codes, and more. Unlike other IoT platforms, Sight Machine is an end-to-end solution that runs off of your existing systems and software and can typically be deployed in under 60 days and does not require factory downtime. Like a true Internet of Everything solution, it’s easy to adopt and can make your entire manufacturing operation more efficient with little upfront investment needed.

Industry – AgricultureSo just how can you provide an Internet of Everything solution for agriculture? Take the entire farming operation and stick it in a standard shipping crate to create a 6.5 ton garden that is connected to the cloud and produces as much yield as an acre of land. That’s incredible don’t you think?

This 6.5 ton apparatus called the “Leafy Green Machine” costs $82,000 to purchase initially and costs $13,000 per year to operate (including electricity, water and growing supplies). It can be placed in any geographic environment and operates 365 days a year with just 10 gallons of water per day. As you would expect, you can monitor the growing operation from your smartphone thanks to all the IoT sensors that allow you to achieve such growing efficiencies in the first place. Freight Farms is the company behind the “Leafy Green Machine”, and has taken in just under $5 million in funding since they began operation in 2011.

Industry – Utilities

Founded in 2009, Sensus has taken in an undisclosed amount of funding to develop metering and automatic meter reading solutions for water, gas, electric, and heat utilities. The benefits of the Sensus “FlexNet® communication network” can be seen as follows:

This isn’t just a startup with a cool idea that’s hoping companies adopt it. They have over 500 customers already with over 20 million endpoints deployed in the field. In one city with 6,500 aging water meters, they reduced the need for meter readings by 94%. Sensus has already made 3 acquisitions and their Internet of Everything solution seems to be just what the aging and highly fragmented utility infrastructure in the U.S. needs.

Industry – Realty

Founded in 2009, Enlighted has taken in just over $80 million in funding from investors like Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) and Intel. The Enlighted Global Energy Optimization™ (GEO™) financing option allows any commercial building operator to. Enlighted borrows the money, assumes all the risk, performs the installation, and keep the system operating for the term. You can then realize immediate cost savings of 5-20% on your electric bills with ongoing savings of 60-80% once the GEO term is complete.

Enlighted provides their GEO service to global real estate portfolios including office, lab, data center, distribution facilities, light industrial, retail and even exterior lighting. The GEO solution has been implemented in over 200 buildings since 2013. This is a great example of an Internet of Everything solution that is easy to adopt and reaps benefits immediately.

Industry – Transportation Founded in 2012, Veniam has taken in nearly $27 million from firms like Verizon, Cisco, and Orange to develop the “Internet of Moving Things”. Veniam turns vehicles into Wi-Fi hotspots in order to build city-scale vehicular networks will expand wireless coverage and collect terabytes of data while in operation. They already piloted their solution in Porto Portugal as seen below:Veniam offers their Wi-Fi product for free to the vehicle operators and in turn receives a wealth of big data that goes up into “the cloud” where they can do cool things with it. For example, 25% of the travel performed by service vehicles and public vehicles is unnecessary and much of this efficiency can be eliminated by connecting vehicles. Veniam is also creating a solution for container terminals that will allow vehicles to communicate with cargo containers. It’s hard to believe that in today’s day and age, your standard shipping container doesn’t talk to “the cloud”. Think about how much efficiency Veniam can create by offering an Internet of Everything solution to the container shipping industry. This is another example of a plug-and-play Internet of Everything solution that costs nothing to adopt and reaps loads of benefits.